Mental healthcare proved to have experienced a clear-cut reduction during the Covid-19 outbreak, and its responsiveness to patients’ health needs showed relevant declines. Moreover, the impact of the pandemic on usual outpatient healthcare has never been systematically measured with a person-level approach in analytical studies.

To assess how the access to, and the delivery of, recommended healthcare for patients with severe mental illness has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

Data were retrieved from the HCU of Lombardy Region (Italy), and a population-based study estimated the association between the level of epidemic restrictions (free, severe, light and moderate) and the recommended healthcare provided (outcome) to patients with schizophrenic and depressive disorders. For each disorder, prevalent and incident patients in the year 2019 were identified. These patients were then observed from 1st January 2020 to December 31, 2020. A Self-Controlled Case Series (SCCS) design was applied, and estimates were obtained with a conditional Poisson regression model. Adjustments for seasonality of medical services delivering were performed (SCC-RS design, with recruitment of a specific reference cohort in 2018, evaluated in 2019). The estimates were stratified according to gender, age and comorbidity profile of the patients included.

Patients with prevalent schizophrenic disorder were 29,516 (Prevalence Rate=35.5x10’000 inhabitants, Image 1), 292 with incident disorder; patients with prevalent depressive disorder were 37,764 (PR=45.4, Image 2), 4,349 with incident disorder. The largest reductions were observed in the rate of psychosocial interventions delivery during the period of exposure to severe restrictions (IRR: 0.35; 95% CI: 0.34 - 0.36 for patients with schizophrenic disorder and 0.49; 0.45 - 0.53 for patients with depression, Image 3), compared to the pre-pandemic period. For patients with incident disorder, the largest reduction concerned the delivery of psychoeducational interventions during the period of exposure to moderate restrictions (0.19; 0.06 - 0.64 for patients with schizophrenic disorder and 0.27; 0.13 - 0.55 for patients with depressive disorder), compared to the pre-pandemic period.

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Real-world data can be used to assess how the individual access to psychiatric recommended healthcare changed during the Covid-19 epidemic. Also, compared to the pre-pandemic period, there was a general reduction in the delivery of recommended interventions to patients with mental disorders during the pandemic period.

None Declared

The coronavirus pandemic was declared one of the deadliest pandemics in the world’s history, surpassing even the 1918 flu pandemic in some countries. The speed with which the virus spread around the world did not leave the slightest chance to prepare even for protected health systems of developed countries, let alone countries with fragile health systems, experiencing a large number of problems at work even at regular times. Although burnout is included in the ICD-11 classification only as a syndrome caused by occupational stress and not a disease, unrecognized and unaddressed, it has the capacity to transform into a wide range of mental disorders, including depressive and anxiety disorders. This poses a threat to healthcare workers and patients, so it is very important to understand the scale of the problem and the factors that can play protective and triggering roles.

Our objective was to evaluate point-prevalence of burnout syndrome among healthcare workers from LMIC during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We conducted a systematic search in Ovid MEDLINE, Embase and PsycInfo, as well as a manual search in PubMed, Google Scholar and Grey Literature to select studies describing burnout prevalence in healthcare workers from low-and middle-income countries during the pandemic. We used a wide range of subject headings as well as main keywords, such as “mental health”, “burnout”, “coronavirus”, “health personnel”, “depression”, “anxiety”, “developing countries” and their synonyms study design search had no limitations and included cohort, case-control, cross-sectional and randomized controlled studies. All identified studies were screened and a final sample of relevant studies was used for data extraction and quality appraisal.

Data was extracted from 15 studies and included 21,007 individuals from eight countries. The proportion of female healthcare workers in our sample was 69% and the overall mean age of participants was 34.3 (2.3). Burnout prevalence varied from 3.62% to 90.1%. Gender, age, workload-related factors and institutional support were mentioned among the most important aspects influencing the burnout level. Clinical heterogeneity was a major drawback of our study as cut-off points for overall burnout and burnout sub-scales were inconsistent even among studies using the same inventory.

It is of critical importance to adopt a wide range of burnout preventive measures for healthcare workers, in particular, easy access to mental health support services, proper organization of human force and more comprehensive educational training in emergency situations. Furthermore, it is suggested, that researchers use a more precise and evidence-based approach to the use of measurement tools in order to increase the reliability of their work and recommendations.

None Declared

The coronavirus infectious disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has had a deleterious impact in many areas. Given this, efforts have focused on developing effective vaccines and vaccination campaigns have been carried out prioritizing population at risk. This should include mental health patients since they are at higher risk of developing complications or ending up in a critical status. Since it may be sometimes difficult for these patients to access vaccination, hospitalization may be a window of opportunity to evaluate and offer vaccination.

This study aims to retrospectively assess vaccination status and offer during admission of psychiatry inpatients at Hospital Clínic of Barcelona during a 6-month period, in order to determine if there are differences regarding vaccination rates compared to general population and between main diagnostic categories.

We retrospectively evaluated all admitted patients to the acute psychiatry ward. The main collected variables included age, gender, main psychiatric diagnosis, presence of organic comorbidities, vaccination status at admission and vaccination offer during admission. We used descriptive statistics to extract most of the information. A binary logistic regression was also conducted to evaluate whether the main diagnosis, age and gender had some influence upon vaccination status at admission.

Between January 1st and June 30th of 2022, 216 patients were admitted to the psychiatry ward. A total of 42% were female, with a mean age for the whole sample of 42.8 years (SD 14.7). More than half were current smokers (55%), and 46% of the patients had at least one significant organic comorbidity. The percentages of main diagnosis were as follows: addiction 21.3%; bipolar disorder 18.5%; schizophrenia 18.1%; non-specified psychosis 14.4%; depression 7.4%; cognitive impairment 0.9%; personality disorders 6.9%.

Vaccination status was available for 187 patients (86.6%). Of these, 78 patients were fully vaccinated, 68 had an incomplete vaccination status and 41 patients had not received any dose. No differences on the vaccination status were seen based on the psychiatric diagnosis. Among patients with incomplete or no vaccination, 19 patients (17.4%) were offered a vaccination dose. A total of 11 patients accepted and received it (57.9%). In the logistic regression model, the only significant variable predicting an increase in the likelihood of being fully vaccinated was age, with every year of age increasing the probability of full vaccination by 6%.

Our data suggest that routine screening of vaccination status during psychiatric admission and improved strategies for vaccination offer and acceptance should become a priority in psychiatric wards. Given the impact of the pandemics, and the likelihood of new waves or even new pandemics, more research on vaccination strategies among mental health patients is warranted.

None Declared

The Government of New Zealand closed the borders and introduced a number of restrictions following the first reported case of Covid-19 in February 2020. Comprehensive measures to control the outbreak included a strict managed isolation and quarantine (MIQ) system and rolling lockdowns that restricted movement. There were concerns about the mental health impact on the population. This presentation will outline the approach to maintaining social cohesion and supporting the psycho-social needs of the population through the pandemic.

An overview of the Covid-19 response will be presented, including the Covid-19 alert systems and the strategies to support particular populations.

This will include:

1. The mental health support for the 229,000 people subjected to managed isolation and quarantine in government facilities

2. Psycho-social interventions for our Maori and Pacific populations

3. Specific approaches for people with severe mental disorders, including vaccination strategies and supporting people in the community with Covid-19

4. Interventions for homeless and socially vulnerable populations

Reflections and learnings from our apprach will be shared.

The government ended the Covid-19 Framework in September 2022 and retrurned to fully open borders in October 2022. There have been over 1.8 million cases and 2000 deaths during the period of restrictions.

None Declared

It has been shown that various traumatic events, such as social isolation connected with the COVID-19 pandemic, can produce psychological distress and anxiety symptoms which negatively impact sleep quality.

This study aimed to investigate the influence of the COVID-19 preventive measures, especially social isolation, on sleep quality of the Croatian adult population during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This cross-sectional questionnaire study was conducted from February to June 2021 period. A validated, anonymous questionnaire that contained questions regarding demographic data, as well as Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI) was self-administered to a convenient sample of Croatian adults from central and northwestern Croatia.

The study sample included 939 subjects with, median age of 42 years (interquartile range 35-48), 35.4% males, and 64.6% females. According to the PSQI there were 22.6% of subjects who presented sleep disturbances. Sleep disturbances were more frequent among females (p<0.001), inhabitants of the Croatian capital Zagreb (p=0.001), subjects who were not infected with COVID-19 virus (p=0.042), subjects who had fear of coronavirus infection in the workplace (p<0.001), subjects who had fear of coronavirus infection during daily life activities (p<0.001), subjects who had fear of coronavirus infection during daily physical activities (p<0.001) and subjects who worked with limited social contact (p=0.005).

The COVID-19 pandemic has a significant negative influence on the sleep quality of the Croatian general population. Development of appropriate supportive programs that enhance mental health and sleep quality during pandemics is needed to address mental health problems in Croatia during the ongoing pandemic.

None Declared

Different studies indicate high prevalence’s of suicidal behaviour, anxiety, depression, insomnia, and PTSD associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. There is currently not enough scientific evidence available to analyze the impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the rate of suicide attempts and their characteristics.

To analyze and compare the characteristics of suicidal behavior (in terms of method, severity, medical damage produced and need for hospitalization) of patients attended during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to previous years.

A retrospective study was performed based on a standardized data collection of patients attending the University Hospital La Paz between April 2018 and November 2021. 581 patients who attempted suicide at least once were included in this study. We compared the severity using the Beck Suicide Intent Scale. Chi-square ant Student’s t were used to compare clinical characteristics such as medical damage, method of suicide attempt and indication for admission after the attempt, between suicide attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic and previous years.

Our results suggest that during the COVID-19 pandemic suicide attempts caused more medical damage (p<0.001), had higher severity (p<0.000), and required more admission in Intensive Care Units, General Internal Medicine and Psychiatry compared with pre-Covid years (p<0.000).

This is the first study in Spain analysing the changes in characteristics of suicide attempts during the COVID-19 pandemic. This has important implications for reducing suicide rates, preventing future attempts, and enabling us to design specific treatments of Suicidal Behaviour.

None Declared

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has produced an unprecedented clinical situation, causing a direct and indirect impact on the physical and mental health of the population. In Spain, between March 15 and June 21 of 2020, it was decreed a home confinement that caused the interruption of the daily life of millions of people. However, there are few studies that analyze the changes produced in psychiatric care in the Emergency Department (ED).

To analyze the changes produced in psychiatric emergencies, subanalysing paediatric population, during the first year of the pandemic (COV1/Y-COV1) compared to the previous year (NOCOV/Y-NOCOV1). To analyze the clinical features of patients attended during the lockdown period of the pandemic (LOCK) and compare it to the period of the pandemic after the lockdown (NOLOCK).

Through the registry of computerized medical records, patients who attended the psychiatric hospital emergency department between 03/01/2019 and 02/28/2021 were identified. We also identified all attendances from 15/03 to 21/06 in 2019 and in 2020 to obtain variables from the lockdown period.

During period of this study, 2694 psychiatric visits made in the ED (1744 patients - 54.3% women, and 69.5% were between 25 and 64 years-), 1537 in NOCOV and 1157 in COV1. Significant differences were found between COV1 and NOCOV in sociodemographic variables, such as employment status and number of offspring. At a clinical level, in COV1, we observed an increase in attendance due to heteroaggressive behaviors, mania, insomnia and problems due to substance use. An increase in the prescription and/or modification of treatment was observed (59.3% vs 54.3%). During COV1, in terms of discharge follow-up in the month following the ED visit, telematic assistance increased (11.4% vs. 5.3%). During the period of study, 282 ED attendances were performed, 153 in Y-NOCOV and 129 in Y-COV1. At a clinical level, during Y-COV1, a decrease in attendances related to substance use was found significant. The sub-analysis carried out for LOCK and NOLOCK yields similar data to those obtained in the COV1 vs. NOCOV1 comparison. During lockdown, the face-to-face follow-up in the month following the ED was significantly lower (39,5% vs 57,1%) regarding telematic follow-up (24,4% vs 5,8%) In this period, an increase of adolescents without previous mental health follow-up was observed (44% LOCK vs. 22% NOLOCK).

Our work supports the hypothesis that the COVID-19 pandemic caused a change in psychiatric care in the ED. It also shows how lockdown changed the attendance in psychiatric emergencies, and also in the later community care attendance. Changes are detected in emergency care for adolescents during the pandemic compared to the previous year. Strikingly, our study does not reflect a quantitative increase in the demand. It would be of interest to continue collecting data after the time of the present project.

None Declared

There are no conclusive findings about the possible protective role of religion on students’ mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, more research is needed.

The purpose of this study was to assess the relationship between the level of emotional distress and religiosity among students from 7 different countries during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Data were collected by an online cross-sectional survey that was distributed amongst Polish (N = 1196), Bengali (N = 1537), Indian (N = 483), Mexican (N = 231), Egyptian (N = 565), Philippine (N = 2062), and Pakistani (N = 506) students (N = 6642) from 12th April to 1st June 2021. The respondents were asked several questions regarding their religiosity which was measured by The Duke University Religion Index (DUREL), the emotional distress was measured by the Depression, Anxiety, and Stress Scale-21 (DASS-21).

Egypt with Islam as the dominant religion showed the greatest temple attendance (organizational religious activity: M=5.27±1.36) and spirituality (intrinsic religiosity: M=5.27±1.36), p<0.0001. On another hand, Egyptian students had the lowest emotional distress measured in all categories DASS-21 (depression: M=4.87±10.17, anxiety: M=4.78±10.13, stress: M=20.76±11.46). Two countries with the dominant Christian religion achieved the highest score for private religious activities (non-organizational religious activity; Mexico: M=3.94±0.94, Poland: M=3.63±1.20; p<0.0001) and experienced a moderate level of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress. Students from Mexico presented the lowest attendance to church (M=2.46±1,39) and spirituality (M=6.68± 3.41) and had the second highest level of depressive symptoms (M=19.13±13.03) and stress (M=20.27±1.98). Philippines students had the highest DASS-21 score (depression: M=22.77±12.58, anxiety: M=16.07±10.77, stress: M=4.87±10.08) and their level of religiosity reached average values in the whole group. The performed regression analysis confirmed the importance of the 3 dimensions (organizational religious activity, non-organizational religious activity, intrinsic religiosity) of religiosity for the well-being of students, except for the relationship between anxiety and private religious activities. The result was as presented for depression: R2=0.0398, F(3.664)=91.764, p<0.0001, SE of E: 12.88; anxiety: R2=0.0124, F(3.664)=27.683, p<0.0001, SE of E: 10,62; stress: R2= 0.0350, F(3.664)=80.363, p<0.0001, SE of E: 12.30.

The higher commitment to organizational religious activity, non-organizational religious activity, and intrinsic religiositywas correlated with the lower level of depressive symptoms, stress, and anxiety among students during the COVID-19 pandemic, but taking into account factors related to religiosity explains the level of emotional well-being to a small extent.

None Declared

The COVID pandemic caused an unprecedented public health crisis and adversely impacted children’s well-being. It has negatively affected children’s mental health due to social isolation, human losses, and remote learning. Our goal is to learn about the challenges and factors that these children and young adults face upon returning to school and college, which could further decline their mental health. We also need to understand parents’ concerns about this transition to a back-to-school routine.

1) To learn about the mental health challenges for children, adolescents, and young adults returning to school after the beginning of the COVID pandemic.

2) To identify the factors and challenges that parents and caregivers face during the COVID regarding the return of their children to school.

We conducted a literature search using relevant medical subject heading (MeSH) terms in PubMed, PubMed Central, Web of Science, and Medline databases. We identified all published relevant articles until June 4, 2021. After a thorough review of relevant published articles until October 30, 2022, we included 5 articles in our qualitative synthesis.

A cross-sectional study in China measured depression, anxiety, and social support in back-to-school students via PHQ-9, GAD-7, and SSQ, respectively. They found a significant rise in anxiety and depression among these students. This correlation was weak at higher social support. Data collected from 15 children’s hospitals found that students want to participate actively in returning to school and the recovery process as they are concerned about their future, family, and society. Another 2021 cross-sectional study in Texas revealed that parents are concerned about their children’s health and prefer an onsite-virtual hybrid learning setup over in-person learning (Limbers C. A. et al. The Journal of school health 2021; 91(1), 3–8.). Parents in Italy favored school reopening with reduced student numbers (70.1%), social distancing within classes (45.3%), and masks as they were concerned about their children due to COVID (Pierantoni, L et al. 2021; Acta paediatrica (Oslo, Norway : 1992), 110(3), 942–943 ). Fewer White parents were supportive of a mask mandate for students and staff members (62.5%) than parents of ethnicities like Hispanic (79.5%, p= 0.026) and other racial/ethnic groups (66.9%, p = 0.041) (Gilbert, L. K. et al. MMWR. Morbidity and mortality weekly report 2020; 69(49), 1848–1852).

The return to school after COVID is challenging for students and parents due to the rise in anxiety and depression in children. Social support has been found to be protective of children’s mental health. Future well-designed studies should identify challenges and factors that can help safeguard children’s mental health and develop appropriate policies.

None Declared

The Covid-19 pandemic has exacerbated mental health problems in many countries, yet little evidence has focused on older adults.

The aim of this study was to qualitatively explore the impact of the pandemic on the mental health and well-being of older adults living in Uganda

Semi-structured interviews with older adults, family carers, and people living with dementia, plus focus groups with care professionals were conducted remotely via the telephone. Data were collected at two time points between March and July 2021. Non-professionals were asked about their experiences of the pandemic and their mental well-being. Data were analysed using thematic analysis. All transcripts were also translated into English and a selection were second-coded by the another team.

A total of 30 interviews were conducted with older adults, people with dementia, and unpaid carers participating at baseline (n=30). Using inductive thematic analysis, we generated three overarching themes: Mental health needs overridden by need for basic necessities; Social isolation; Increased worry about restrictions and pandemic in dementia. For most people, limited access to basic necessities, including food, featured more prominently in responses than any direct acknowledgement of how the pandemic has affected their mental well-being. Participants were upset and worried about being socially isolated, with carers concerned about the welfare of many people with dementia and often feeling emotionally exhausted.

Older adults, carers, and people living with dementia in Uganda not only require support to cope with the mental health impact of the pandemic, but most importantly require improved financial governmental support to be able to access sufficient food and other basic necessities, as a group their health is poor and associated risk of deterioration high

None Declared

Despite the fact that, age is a strongest know risk factor for onset of dementia, and developing countries are projected to have highest number of ageing population, few national dementia strategies have been put in place to address this impending scourge. In 2017, World Health Organization(WHO) released and called for countries to adapt and contextualize the Global Action Plan on the Public health response to dementia, few Sub-Saharan countries have slowly adopted plan. The outcome of the unprecedented increase populations with dementia will be immense. The substantial increase in morbidity and mortality pose a threat to the over stretched health care system and undermine the potential to achieve sustainable development goal (SDGs).

Understading the implementation of Global Action Plan on the Public health response to dementia in the developing countries

This paper is a view of published and grey literature relevant to Global Action Plan On the Public Health Response to Dementia (GAPD) in sub-Saharan Africa. The overall approach to the review had an exploratory and inductive focus. Articles were categorized around a guiding conceptual framework. Like; A description of structural arrangements and content of national dementia strategy development and normative underpinnings within policy frameworks

Nearly all countries within the SSA hadn’t developed the national dementia strategy plans. Countries like South African, Ghana, Kenya and Ethiopia had drafts of national dementia strategy, though not yet operationalized. Few countries highlighted some of the parallel targets of GAPD within their national mental health policy and strategy, but it was not comprehensive. Countries where Civil societies that advocate/champion dementia activities were strongly presently were more likely to possess a draft of GAPD.

Although there some initiatives for different countries to develop national strategy for dementia plans, there are gaps in the extent of engagement of different stakeholders and how these strategies will be operationalized may limit the impact on addressing the escalating burden of dementia in Sub-Saharan Africa.

None Declared

There is increasing interest in the association between neuropsychiatric symptoms in patients with COVID-19 and the proinflammatory status of the disease. Hospital del Mar Post-Covid Psychiatry Unit carried out a descriptive study to analyze the link between inflammation and mental health symptoms in COVID-19 patients.

Relate inflammation parameters to the presence of neuropsychiatric symptoms in COVID-19 patients treated at the Hospital del Mar Post-Covid Psychiatry Unit.

A database of patients evaluated by the Post-covid Psychiatry unit was developed. Clinical variables, whether hospitalization is required and inflammation indicators during COVID-19 infection (PCR and IL-6 analytical values) were recorded.

Three screening scales for psychiatric symptoms were given to the patients: PHQ-9 for depression (1-4: minimal depression, 5-9: mild, 10-14: moderate, 15-19: moderately severe, 20-27: severe), GAD-7 for anxiety (cutoff point >=6) and PCL-5 for post-traumatic stress symptoms (cutoff point >6).

T-student statistics for independent samples and the pearson correlation were used to relate inflammation parameters to depression, anxiety and post-traumatic stress symptoms obtained from the scales.

149 patients were attended between may 2020 and april 2021. 78 patients had PCR value and 52 had IL-6 value. There is no correlation between the score obtained on the PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-5 scales and PCR or IL-6 value.

There is no relation between being hospitalized for covid infection and the values of PHQ9 and GAD7. Patients hospitalized had lower scores in PCL-5 scale (t=2.67, p=0.009). There are no differences in the scale scores among patients requiring orotracheal intubation or not.

In this descriptive study, inflammation parameters were not related with psychiatric symptoms in COVID-19 patients. Neither association was found between the inflammation parameters and the severity of COVID-19 symptoms, measured in terms of hospitalization requirement.

None Declared

There is growing evidence on the prevalence of neuropsychiatric disorders in patients suffering from COVID-19. On Hospital del Mar, a multidisciplinary post-COVID unit was created in May 2020 for COVID-19 patients.

Explain the functioning of the Post-COVID Psychiatry Functional Unit and the sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of treated patients.

The Post-COVID Unit assessed all patients treated for COVID at Hospital del Mar. Patients referred by their primary care center for persistent post-COVID symptoms were also treated.

During a telephone interview, they received the PHQ-4 questionnaire to identify psychiatric symptoms. If the score was => 3, the patient was referred to the Post-COVID Psychiatry Unit.

Initial contact was established by a mental health nurse, who collected a clinical history and administered three scales: PHQ-9, GAD-7 and PCL-5. A descriptive sociodemographic and clinical data analysis of patients treated by the Post-COVID Psychiatry Unit is carried out.

The sample consists of 149 patients who have been treated for positive PHQ-4 from July 2020 to April 2021. The majority were women (71%) and averaged 50.2 years old (SD = 12.3). In terms of the severity of COVID-19 infection, 45.6% needed hospitalization.

The mean score of the psychiatric symptom scales was 11.12 points on the PHQ-9 (SD=5.4) (1-4: minimal depression, 5-9: mild, 10-14: moderate, 15.19: moderately severe, 20-27: severe), 9.43 (SD=5.1) points in the GAD7 (cutoff point>=10) and 2.99 (SD=4) in the PCL5 (cutoff point>6).

39.5% patients of the sample were visited by psychiatry/psychology, of these 33.6% met psychiatric diagnostic criteria, the most frequent being an Adjustment disorder (15.40%), followed by Major Depressive Disorder (8.7%), Anxiety Disorder (4.7%) and other diagnoses (4.7%).

Patients treated in the Post-COVID Unit were mainly middle-aged women, the most common symptomatology being mild depressive symptoms.

None Declared

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic situation forced the Spanish Government to declare a home confinement that was prolonged for three months. The Health System had to focus almost entirely on the treatment of patients with Covid-19 infection and vulnerable populations such as people with severe mental illness were overlooked. In this context, mental health home care as an alternative to hospitalization became a first-line approachment for patients with an acute mental health disorder.

The aim of this study is to describe the professional practice and the patients characteristics attended by a mental health team in Catalonia during the home confinement due to the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic.

This study includes the period between March 15, 2020 and June 21, 2020. Sociodemographic, clinical and team functioning variables were described. The patient data was obtained from medical history whereas the rest of information was collected through the creation of a database by the members of the assistencial team.

Team’s structure was changed with the creation of two mirror teams. Psychological attention was expanded and the weekend coverage was reorganized.During that period 40 patients were treated with a mean age of 47 years. There were no differences regarding the gender (50% were men and 50% were women). 87% of the patients lived with their family. 75% of referrals were made by the hospital and 90% were referred to community services upon discharge. Regarding diagnoses, 57.5% of the patients were diagnosed with a psychotic disorder (10% being reactive to Covid-19). A total of 482 visits were made, of which 51% were conducted in a telematic form. The mean time between the referral and the admission was 37.98h. The team accepted 97% of the referred patients with an occupancy rate of 112.4%.

The re-organisation of a home treatment team during the domiciliary lockdown allowed to increase the occupancy rate and offered a rapid response to patients, avoiding the need of conventional hospitalization and providing a proper care plan.

None Declared

Some studies reported that vaccines are extremely good at preventing serious illness but that many countries have had difficulty vaccinating their citizens, and even some vaccinated people may still be at risk for serious COVID-19 symptoms due to underlying medical illness or reduced immunity over time.

Some researches reported that drugs known as selective serotonin-reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) interacts strongly with the sigma-1 receptor, a protein inside cells that helps regulate the body’s inflammatory response. So its believe that this drug most likely is interacting with the sigma-1 receptor to reduce the production of inflammatory molecules in the body, So treatment with this therapy may be highly effective to reducing severe of COVID symptomatology.

The cross-section study included two groups of patients (N = 30) of different sex ±49,2 age, all were treated in Covid Centre , Skopje. The study was conducted for 6 months all the patients was writing informed consent. The first group consisted of COVID patients who had previously suffered from psychiatric illness and had been treated with antidepressant therapy (SSRi). The second group are the COVID patients who had not been treated with antidepressant before. The severity of COVID 19 symptomatology (based on medical documentation- classification of disease severity) was determined using the Modified Early Warning Score (MEWS scale) . MEWS score 0-2 mild or asymptomatic (stable patients), 3-4 moderately severe (unstable patients), ≥ 5 highly critical(critical patients). The obtained data were processed by descriptive method and Student t-test.

. The results in our study show that the patients who were treated with antidepressants before covid disease showed a lower score on the NEWS scale but there is a not statistically significant results p=0,06 when compare with another examination group

: The results in our study supports considerations about the possible impact of antidepressant therapy on alleviating COVID 19 symptomatology.

None Declared

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) consists of an intense, prolonged, and occasionally delayed reaction to a deeply stressful event. PTSD is associated with risk of suicide and chronic psychological impairment. The continued exposure to stress suffered by Healthcare Workers (HCWs) during the COVID-19 pandemic can be considered a mass traumatic event and contribute to higher rates of PTSD in this population.

To study the rates of PTSD in a sample group of healthcare professionals working in a Portuguese general hospital and its relationship with a number of individual variables considered to be relevant by the existing literature on the subject.

We devised a survey to assess the prevalence of PTSD among HCWs in a general hospital and its relationship with sex, social support, profession, work experience in healthcare, time spent caring for COVID-19 patients and place in which the COVID-19-related activities were carried out. PTSD symptoms were assessed using the PCL-5, Portuguese version.

A total of 226 HCWs were included in the study. Provisional diagnosis of PTSD was made based on the PCL-5 responses, considering DSM-5 criteria and the cutoff score of 33.

79 out of 226 (35.0%) HCWs had a provisional diagnosis of PTSD, and a significant association was found between PTSD and time spent working with COVID-19 patients and between PTSD and place of work, namely the COVID-19 Emergency Room and Intensive Care Unit.

Our results are in line with previous studies, highlighting the importance of a serious, wide, and honest discussion about mental health promotion among HCWs. The COVID-19 pandemic has been an undeniable source of stress for HCWs around the globe, and the consequences of this stress are beginning to manifest themselves. It is urgent that this reflection takes place, as it is of paramount importance that what we all have lived in the past years serves as a lesson, and not as a warning of a crisis doomed to repeat itself.

None Declared

The psychological burden of the COVID-19 pandemic can have a lasting impact on the emotional well-being of healthcare workers (HCWs). Healthcare professionals working during the pandemic experienced increased occupational stress due to the high risk of contracting the virus, work overload, significantly increased working hours and overlapping job responsibilities

The study aimed to assess the dynamics of mental health and coping and to analyze how HCWs’ emotional responses to a pandemic at the beginning of the pandemic and at the two-year follow-up. This study compared the results of examination of emotional response of HCWs in 2020 and 2022. The relationships between stress and alexithymia, emotional processing, and negative / positive affect in healthcare professionals were analyzed.

All respondents of the study were hospital or ambulatory healthcare professionals. Overall, 285 subjects were examined in 2020 while 252 subjects were examined in 2022. Respondents completed several questionnaires such as e.g., the Toronto Alexithymia Scale-20, the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS-10), the Emotional Processing Scale (EPS), and the Positive and Negative Affect Scale (PANAS).

Significant increased scores were observed forthe following parameters: alexithymia, identifying feelings, verbalizing feelings, operative thinking style, emotional processing, suppression, signs of unprocessed emotion, controllability of emotions, avoidance of emotional triggers, impoverished emotional experience, surrogate activities, denial, substance use, self-blame, stress, negative mood, somatic disorders, concern, dysfunction, depression, anxiety state and trait.

The results were significantly lower for planning, using instrumental support, positive reframing, acceptance, religion, using emotional support, venting and positive mood.

Statistically significant differences could not be found for acceptance, active coping, humor and behavioral disengagement

Research indicates that exposure to the pandemic a pandemic is associated with greater severity of a range of symptoms in HCWs. Two years of the pandemic may have led to psychological impairment. HCWs are more likely to use coping focused on emotional freezing, suppression, avoidance and / or an increase in negative emotions. Clinical observations indicate that caring for others does not correlate with appropriate self-care

None Declared

While there is some research that shows personal and psychological factors to be linked to disease-avoidant behaviour and attitudes in the time of Covid-19, this research is however mixed and inconsistent (i.e., some studies report a link and others do not).

In this study we clarify whether demographic and psychological factors specifically predict vaccination willingness and attitudes using Machine learning of a global survey sample from 137 countries (N = 24 000).

Random forest machine learning algorithm was used to identify the strongest predictors of vaccination willingness and attitudes, while regression trees were developed to identify individuals at greater risk for anti-vaccination attitudes.

Conspiratorial thinking and lack of trust in experts were associated with vaccination attitudes and willingness.

The findings underscore the role of conspiratorial beliefs in shaping the uptake of non-pharmacological and pharmacological novel pandemic protective measures.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has had an unprecedented detrimental impact on mental health in people around the world. It is therefore important to examine factors that may buffer or heighten the risk of mental health problems in this context.

The current study explores the buffering effects of different flows of compassion (for self, for others, from others) and the magnifying effects of fears of compassion on the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on indicators of mental health and psychosocial wellbeing.

4057 adult participants collected from the general community population across 21 countries from Europe, Middle East, North America, South America, Asia and Oceania, completed self-report measures of perceived threat of COVID-19, compassion, fears of compassion, social safeness, loneliness, depression, anxiety, stress, posttraumatic stress and growth.

Self-compassion moderated the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on depression, anxiety and stress, whereas compassion from others moderated the effects of fears of COVID-19 on social safeness. Fears of compassion moderated the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on psychological distress. Only fears of compassion from others moderated the effects of fears of COVID-19 on social safeness. Furthermore, social connection (compassion and social safeness) predicted higher post-traumatic growth and traumatic stress, whereas social disconnection (fears of compassion and loneliness) predicted increased traumatic symptoms only. Social connection heightened the impact of perceived threat of COVID-19 on post-traumatic growth, while social disconnection weakened this impact. Social disconnection magnified the impact of the perceived threat of COVID-19 on traumatic stress. The effects were consistent across countries.

Our findings highlight the universal protective role of compassion and social connection in promoting resilience and buffering against the harmful effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health and psychosocial wellbeing. Furthermore, our results reveal that fears of compassion have a magnifying effect on the damaging impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on mental health.

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The COVID-19 pandemic has significantly affected mental health. However, its impact between different pandemic waves and different populations has been scarcely studied.

The aim of this study was to analyze the differences in psychiatric symptomatology between the general population (GP) and health personnel (HP) during the second and third waves of COVID-19 in Mexico.

404 participants were included as part of a cross-sectional study conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic, using an online survey. Second wave covered from September 27, 2020 to April 17, 2021 and the third wave covered from June 6, 2021 to October 23, 2021. GP refers to Mexican residents during the pandemic, and HP includes healthcare workers (doctors, nurses, residents). Sociodemographic data were collected and scales of depression (Patient Health Questionnaire 9), anxiety (General Anxiety Disorder -7), insomnia (insomnia severity index), and post-traumatic stress (Impact of event scale revised) were applied. We gather information in a database in Excel, for later analysis using IBM SPSS Statics 21. Traditional descriptive statistics for quantitative variables and frequencies for qualitative variables were obtained. Association and statistical correlation were analyzed using Chi2 tests.

71.3% of the collected sample were female, mean age 35.5 (sd= 11.6), the 62.5% consisted of health personnel, the majority were single 48.9%, with postgraduate education 48.9%, middle class (97.2%). A higher percentage of symptoms of depression and anxiety was observed in health personnel compared to the general population during the second wave of COVID-19 (33.9% vs. 19.5%, p=0.047; 18.2% vs. 39.3%, p=0.006). However, during the third wave of COVID-19, more depressive, anxious and insomnia symptoms were observed in the general population compared to health personnel (73.9% vs. 44.4%, p=0.020; 73.9 vs. 25.9%, p= 0.000; 43.5% vs. 11.1%, p=0.008) (Figure 1).

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Health personnel presented more depressive and anxious symptoms during the second wave of COVID-19 compared to the general population, however, the results were inverse during the third wave, showing more psychiatric symptoms in the general population with significant differences. This may be due to various factors, including unawareness, fear of the disease, and exposure during the second wave of the pandemic of health personnel. Moreover, long-lasting containment measures could have overwhelmed the GP by the third wave. Our study underscores the importance of addressing HP mental stressors to increase its resilience in similar health crises.

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